Hope for Tomorrow
by Kaishi
Summary: Casey and Derek are in their senior year of high school. Prom is coming up soon, but Casey gets into a car accident. Will this change Derek's hostility towards her? Dasey
1. Shopping

Disclaimer: Life With Derek is copyright of Disney and Canadian Television. I do not own these characters (unless there are ones you don't recognize, but I do own the plot of this story. So please, don't sue me. I'm just a poor college student with no job.

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Casey's POV

I ran down the stairs, heading for the door. I had taken longer than expected to get ready that Saturday morning and I was worried that I wouldn't get to the car before Derek.

We were both 17, had our licenses, and had just finally convinced Mom and George to get us a car. Unfortunately, it was just one. That's right. I had to share car privileges with the bane of my existence: Derek Venturi.

If we wanted to get our own cars we would have to buy them ourselves. The car they had bought was going to stay a shared car for emergencies and for when Lizzie and Edwin learned to drive, if it was still running by then.

I reached the door and noticed the car keys still sitting on the living room table. I grinned and grabbed them. '_Casey wins this time!'_ I thought to myself. "Mom!" I shouted into the kitchen where I knew Mom would be making breakfast for Marti, Edwin, and Lizzie. "I'm taking the car to meet Emily at the Mall. We're going prom dress shopping."

"Alright honey. Drive carefully!" she warned me.

I sighed "Don't worry Mom. I will."

I pulled into a parking space at the mall and ran inside to meet Emily at the entrance. She was sitting on a bench when I got there. She stood up and crossed her arms across her chest. "Geeze Casey. What took you so long?"

"Sorry," I muttered, "it took me longer than usual to get ready this morning."

"Why? Are you hoping to meet a prospective prom date here?" Emily laughed. When I didn't join in on her laughter, she realized she had hit a sore spot. "Sorry. I didn't realize not having a prom date bothered you so much."

I avoided eye contact with her and started walking towards one of the specialty store that only carried bridal and prom style dresses. Emily and I searched, tried on dresses, and searched some more. It was the never ending cycle. Finally after about an hour and a half Emily found a dress that she loved. It looked gorgeous on her too. It was a light lavender, satin, with an A-line skirt that would barely sweep the floor if she wore heels.

"Hey Casey," she started, "Do you think Sam will like it?"

I winced at the mention of Sam. Emily had given up on Derek and had started dating Sam. It probably wouldn't have been so bad except that Sam and I had been dating for about a year, and then he and Emily started up a relationship not even two days after we had broken up. "Yeah, he'll love it Em."

While she changed back into her street clothes I continued to look at the dresses. That's when I spotted it. It was my dream dress. I ran over and glanced at the size. I felt disappointment rise up within me as I noticed it was a size smaller than what I normally wore. I brought it into the dressing room anyway, hoping I could squeeze into it.

I held my breath and zipped the back of the dress. Finally daring to breathe I noticed that the dress fit me perfectly. I stepped out of the dressing room to where Emily was putting away unwanted dresses. She turned upon hearing the dressing room door open and her jaw dropped open in what I hoped was awe. "Wow Casey. Now we have definitely got to get you a date to Prom."

I grinned and tilted my head to the side to look into the full length mirror. The dress was strapless and the top was made of satin while the bottom had layers and layers of tulle. It was like a fairytale princess gown in a deep shade of turquoise. I loved it, simply loved it.

I slipped back into the dressing room and out of the dress. I took a deep breath and glanced down at the price. I inhaled sharply when I saw how much the dress was going to cost me. It would probably wipe out my savings account, or at least the portion that wasn't dedicated to my college fund.

I sighed and put my regular clothes back on so I could go pay for the dress. Emily and I walked out of that store with out bank accounts severely depleted. I grumbled to myself, "I can't believe I just spent so much money on a dress. And I don't even have a date to prom!"

"Awwwww...Casey, you looked gorgeous in that dress. You'll find a date, don't worry about it."

I sure hoped she was right. "Well, I should probably get home Em. Derek is probably getting impatient waiting for the car. Knowing him, he has six dates today alone." I rolled my eyes.

Emily gave me a sympathetic look. "Well, I'll see you at school on Monday. We'll start looking for a date for you then." She turned to start walking away, but then she faced me again. "Hey Casey, do you want me to keep your dress at my house for you? I know your house can be chaotic and well, we don't want anything bad to happen to the dress, right."

I smiled. "Thanks Emily." I handed over the dress and then proceeded to walk to the car.

I started on my way home. I let my mind wander back to the dress a little bit. I never considered myself to be heavy at all, but I couldn't gain any weight in the next month or else my beautiful, extremely expensive dress probably wouldn't fit me. I sighed. Well, at least now I had that month to find a date and the perfect shoes.

As I approached the last intersection before the highway, I had a bad feeling. I tried to brush it off as just being guilt for buying such an expensive dress that I was just going to wear once.

It wasn't until I was in the intersection that I noticed the car that was coming at my driver's side door, speeding through what was a red light for them. I found myself holding my breath, hoping I would make it through the intersection unscathed. It wasn't until I heard metal crunch against metal that I realized that I was actually in trouble. I never heard the squeal of breaks, meaning that the other car had never tried to slow down, or maybe had never seen me.

Panic was the last thing I felt rush through my veins before blacking out. For all I knew, neither car ever stopped.

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AN: Ooo...cliffie! Kind of. Hehe. I'll post the next chapter as soon as possible. Chapters will probably start coming alot more quickly once I get my laptop back and I'm not having to share a computer with my father. Yeah... 

Comments are appreciated very much. Praise, constructive criticism, whatever.

Flames will be used to boil the water that I will then put the flamers in. Be warned.


	2. The Phone Call

AN: Just so you guys are aware, I will be putting out chapters as quickly as I'm able to write them. I do have the inspiration through this whole storyline and possibly more, so it's just going to be outside stuff it the updates are slow. I have a job interview Monday so if all goes well between that and a musical I'm in this summer, I'm not going to have as much time for writing as I'd like, but I promise you the chapters will get out there.

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Derek's POV

I paced back and forth through the living room. Casey had taken the car before me for yet another weekend. Couldn't she get it through her head that I was a busy man? I had dates to attend to and for that I needed a car. In fact, I had a date with Jessica in twenty minutes. Or was that Jennifer? No, it was definitely Jessica. Yet, Casey was nowhere to be found. I had tried calling the cell phone we were supposed to have when we took the car, but no one was answering.

I sighed and let myself fall into the armchair beside the couch. It was my chair, or at least I always beat Casey to it. I kept my eyes on the front door as if it would magically open if I stared hard enough.

My concentration was soon broken by my father's voice, "Derek, Nora and I are taking Marti with us on a shopping trip that we have to go on. Lizzie and Edwin are at friends' houses." I just stared at him, wondering if he actually expected me to respond. "Derek, that means no parties you know."

"Dad, I'm not going to throw a party. I promise. I'm supposed to be going on a date, but Casey hasn't brought the car back yet. Did you guys even know that Casey took the car? And she's not answering the cell phone."

"Derek, relax." Nora said to me, "I'm sure she's just busy. She went to the mall with Emily to try on prom dresses. She shouldn't be too much longer."

"Yeah well, chicks take too long with these things." I crossed my arms across my chest and glared at the doorway as Dad and Nora left with Marti.

"Bye Smerek!" Marti shouted to me as she was led out the door.

"Bye Smarti." My expression softened a little. I loved my little sister, but that still didn't change the fact that my reputation might possibly be ruined within the next hour. I would have to cancel my date if Casey didn't show up with the car soon. Derek Venturi never cancelled a date under any circumstances.

I was jarred out of my thoughts when the phone rang. I jumped up with the slightest hope it would be Casey calling so that I could give her a piece of my mind about interfering with my date time.

I nearly ripped the phone off the hook. "Hello?"

"Hello," the voice replied. It was deep, a male voice, not Casey. "May I speak with Mrs. McDonald please?"

I leaned against the doorway, suddenly uninterested in the caller since they obviously wouldn't have the information as to when the car would be getting back so that I could finally go on my date. "No, she's not. Can I take a message?"

"Actually, it would be best if I could speak to a member of the family right away. It's rather...important. Would you by any chance be a relative of Casey McDonald?"

My eyes widened and my stomach seemed to drop. This didn't sound good. I had originally been hoping that the phone ringing would be about Casey, but the urgency mixed with a still strangely calm voice did not seem to add up to anything pleasant. I quickly found my voice again, angry with myself that I had even faltered to begin with. "Yes, um...I'm her step brother actually. What's wrong?" I almost wished I could have kept that last part to herself.

"Well Mr..."

"Venturi," I responded, "Derek Venturi."

"Well Derek, your sister has been in a pretty bad car accident." I slumped against the wall. "You need to try and get in contact with your parents and get down here to the hospital as soon as possible. Ask at the front desk for her, she's in the emergency room right now but she might have been moved by the time anybody gets here."

I dropped the phone. I couldn't stand to listen to anymore. My mind was over flooded with too many thoughts, all at once. Casey, my step sister Casey was in the hospital. Normally I would be freaking out about the fact that I would probably never ever have a car again until I found a job, but something in the voice and the fact that Casey was in a hospital emergency room worried me. Alright, sometimes I could bug Casey, and actually I could be downright mean, but that didn't mean that I was totally heartless. As much as Casey got on my nerves sometimes, I still cared about her. I cared about her a lot actually, probably even more than I would ever admit to anyone.

I had to get to the hospital and fast, but I didn't want to worry anyone else who shouldn't be involved with the information. I stared at the phone that was lying on the floor. I had to call Dad and Nora, but I didn't want them to freak out. I knew that Dad would probably be driving, so I called Nora's cell phone.

"Please pick up, please pick up." I mumbled to myself while I heard it ring for what felt like an eternity.

"Derek?" Nora asked. She must have seen the home number on the caller ID.

"Nora...I don't know how to tell you this, but."

"Derek, did you decide to throw a party and someone got hurt? Did something in the house break? We'll turn around and come straight home if you even dared to think about throwing a party.

"Nora, no! I didn't throw a party. I got a phone call just a few minutes ago and I thought you should"

"Oh, was it from Casey? Is she alright? Is she bringing the car home soon so you can go on your date?"

That's right, my date with Jessica. Well, that would definitely have to be put on hold now. "No, the call was from someone at the Hospital...Casey is there."

"What happened? Is she hurt? Derek, you have to tell me what happened."

My mind raced, trying to think of a way to not make her panic, after all, I didn't know very much either. "I think it would be best for the people at the Hospital to tell you themselves."

"Alright, we're going there right now. We'll see you there."

As she hung up the phone, that's when it hit me. I still had no way of getting to the Hospital. I groaned and put the phone back in its cradle and I ran up to my room to check on my funds.

I opened a door of my desk where I kept my money and searched, hoping that I would find enough for what I needed. After some fishing around, I found what would probably be just enough money for me to take a bus. I looked at the clock on my desk and noted that the next bus would be arriving in 3 minutes, not nearly enough time for me to make it. But then I had another idea.

I went out to the garage where the bike that I hadn't ridden for quite a while now was sitting there. It was still in pretty good condition, or at least both the tires still had air in them and the chain was still attached. That's all that really mattered at this point. I took a deep breath and pedaled my way towards the hospital as fast as I could. Maybe if I was lucky, no one would see me riding a Bike down the street. Then again, why would I care if they did? I had the most social influence at school and I could stop gossip just as easily as it could be started.

I pedaled faster, if that was even possible and leaned forward so that there would be less air resistance. If I was lucky and didn't hit any red lights I would be at the hospital in 20 minutes. I just hoped everything was going to work out alright. It needed to work out alright.


	3. Room 326

AN: Thank you so much to all my reviewers and to those of you who have read but haven't necessarily left any comments. Now, for a few specific responses to reviews from the first two chapters (I realize I replied to some of you, but other people might be thinking the same thing, so I'm posting it here too).

**iluvhsm-Sprntrl-LWD-Sville13** - I might actually post some illustrations for this story in my DeviantArt gallery eventually. I do draw, althrough not as well as some other people. I've already drawn Casey's dress and when I get my laptop back from getting it fixed, I'll upload some drawings to the gallery so people can take a look if they want.

**BigDaddyThaddy - **You find out in this chapter just what happened to Casey because of the crash

**luvergirlgranger - **Yup, the story will be Dasey pretty soon. Probably within a few chapters.

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Derek's POV 

It only took about a half an hour to get to the hospital, but it felt like it took ages. It was like everything that was happening was going in slow motion. Well, that is, everything except for my heart. It was pounding in my chest at what felt like a million beats per second. I felt anxiety continue to well up inside of me as I stared at the huge building in front of me.

I barely slid the bike into the bike rack. At this point I didn't really care if anyone stole it. It wasn't like I was ever going to use it again. After all, there were only extenuating circumstances where I ever rode that bike, and well I honestly just hoped that nothing like this was ever going to happen again.

To be honest, I was expecting the worst of the situation. I guess I'm just that kind of guy. Yet somehow, through all of that, I forced my feet to move again and I made my way inside to the information desk. There was a short grey haired lady sitting at the desk, and when I walked in she just sat there and looked up at me expectantly.

"Um...I'm here to see Casey McDonald."

She entered the name into the computer at the station and proceeded to right something down on a post-it note. "Room 326," she said as she stuck the post-it to my arm.

"Thanks." 'Alright, so that was a little bit weird' I thought to myself as I pulled the note off my arm and headed for the hospital elevators. I swear that hospitals make the slowest elevators in the world. It felt like it took 10 minutes to just go up two floors, although my perception of time was probably a little bit off right now. Although, it still would have been quicker if I had just taken the stairs. Actually, come to think of it, I couldn't think of anyone ever entering or leaving the stairwell at the hospital. Apparently every single visitor took the impossibly slow elevators.

The doors finally opened to the third floor. The first thing I noticed is that it wasn't like most floors where you could just step out of the elevator, go down a hall and be in somebody's room. There was a nurse or something sitting in a little desk, or actually box seemed like a better term, with a glass window over the front. There were then glass doors to the side of where she sat, and from there the hallway with rooms could be seen.

Before I could decide what I was supposed to do, I heard Marti's voice yell "Smerek!" from somewhere over to my left, where the waiting room apparently was. I glanced over and saw my family sitting on what were probably the most uncomfortable chairs in the world. Or maybe that's just what everyone thought when they had no idea what was going on.

I slowly headed over to where everyone was sitting and glanced down at the post-it that the woman sitting at the info desk had given me. Along with the room number, there were three letters written above it. 'ICU,' I said to myself, 'Intensive Care Unit.' Well, that certainly didn't make the panic of having no idea what was going on any better.

I looked to my dad and Nora looking for some sort of answer to what had happened. Apparently my dad is oblivious when it comes to reading what certain looks mean, and he just said to me, "Oh, Derek. You made it here alright. That's good. We picked up Lizzie and Edwin from their friends' houses on the way here. We didn't want them to worry if we didn't come pick them up on time later tonight." Well, as if I couldn't tell that they were here on my own. The fact that he didn't seem that Casey would be out of the hospital anytime soon also worried me.

I shifted my glance from Dad to Nora, hoping that she would understand and tell me what was going on. "Casey was in a bad car accident," she began, "It was a hit and run. So, they don't know what happened to the person who hit her. Witnesses said that it was the other person's fault; they had gone through a red light and slammed into the driver's side of the car. Somebody got the license plate number, but they haven't been able to track down the vehicle yet. Apparently it was stolen from an elderly couple's house and has fake plates on it. So, they don't know when they'll catch up with them."

It felt like the ground was spinning underneath me. I carefully lowered myself into the empty seat beside Nora. "So how is she doing? How bad is it?"

Nora just sighed, and I took that as a bad sign. I took it as a very bad sign actually. My mind began racing yet again with the absolutely worst case scenarios. Then again, at least I knew she was still alive. Right? They didn't take dead people to the ICU. "They haven't told us anything yet. They won't let us go in to see her, but they said a doctor will be out here soon to let us know what kind of injuries she has."

As if Nora saying that was some sort of sign, a doctor walked through the glass doors and over to us. "The McDonald family?" He inquired. Nobody bothered to correct him and further delay the news, so instead we just all kept our mouths shut and nodded.

"None of Casey's injuries are as bad as you're probably thinking." Somehow, I didn't think that was a very good way of starting to tell somebody what was wrong with someone that was in the hospital. "She doesn't have any broken bones. As far as physical damage goes her left wrist is sprained and she has minor cuts all over her body, mainly on the left side from the driver's side window shattering. She has a couple bruised ribs as well." He paused, almost making us think he was done, but in reality, he was just letting that information sink in while he prepared us for what was probably the worst news so far. "And on top of all that, she sustained some head injuries and she's currently in a coma. We're not sure how quickly she is going to wake up from it."

'When'...he said 'when'. 'When' is a good sign? At least they were sure that she was going to wake up. If they weren't, they would have said 'if', right? Or maybe that's just the hospital's way of toying with peoples' minds. Maybe it's their way of making sure we hope for the best for as long as possible. I didn't want to think about that though. I wanted Casey to get better and get out of the hospital. No one our age, no perfectly healthy teenager deserved to be in the hospital for the reasons she was. And yet these kinds of things happened every day. Actually, worse happened every day, but I didn't want to think about that right now.

"She can have visitors now." He looked at the group of us for a moment before continuing, "Although, she can only have three at a time." He headed back through the doors and we all looked at each other, wondering who would be the first to go in. Obviously Nora and Lizzie would be two in the first group of three, but from there it was a toss up.

My dad decided that Marti was still too young to go in and see Casey; she might pull out a tube or something important like that by accident. Edwin on the other hand, hated hospitals and hated seeing people in them even more. So, Dad decided that he should stay out in the waiting room with them and that I should go in with Nora and Lizzie.

I couldn't tell you why, but I was glad that I got to go in right away. I wanted to see Casey for myself and make sure she was alright. It wasn't that I didn't trust the doctor, but just sometimes you had to see these things for yourself.

Nora, Lizzie and I walked through those glass doors and headed towards 326. When we reached the room, Nora and Lizzie headed straight in to Casey's side, but I paused in the doorway.

The rooms in ICU were so different from regular hospital rooms. There was just a bed and a sink in each room, with a couple of chairs for visitors. It wasn't the setup that made me stop though, it was seeing Casey. She just looked so helpless laying there on that bed. There were all sorts of tubes and monitoring devices attached to her. Her left wrist was bandaged, and of course the doctor was right, she had tiny little cuts all over her body from where glass had penetrated her skin. It was weird seeing her just lying there like that. I knew for a fact that Casey was anything but helpless.

I let my eyes wander over to Lizzie and Nora. Lizzie was sitting in a chair pushed up against the wall, her knees pulled up against her chest, just crying at seeing her sister lying there like that. Nora was standing there, a bit more calmly, at the side of Casey's bed. I knew she was anything but calm though. You could see it in her eyes. She was worried about her eldest daughter, and in reality, who would blame her? We were all worried.

I don't know how long we all stayed there silently, unmoving, just thinking. A nurse came in and said that we would have to leave. Well, all except for one of us would have to leave. One person could stay overnight. Nora looked at me. "Derek, I know that you probably don't want to, but would you mind being the one to stay? Somebody will be back in the morning. I just don't want George to have to deal with the kids all night by himself. I know it probably wouldn't be a problem, but..."

I cut her off, "its fine Nora. I'll stay."

She smiled for a brief moment, but that smile never reached her eyes. I knew she was worried about Casey. All of us were. I watched Nora and Lizzie look one last time at Casey before exiting the room and back down the hallway to where my Dad, Edwin, and Marti were waiting. I took the chair that Lizzie had been sitting in and dragged it closer to the bed. I put my hand on top of Casey's right hand. "It'll be okay Casey. You'll be alright, you'll pull through. You have to. Pull through for yourself; you have a lot of good things waiting for you in life still. Case, you have to pull through for us too," And my voice faltered a little bit at the next part, "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you."


	4. What is this feeling?

AN: Sorry it took me a little bit longer to get this chapter out. I've had some stuff going on the past few days. My dad just had surgery on his neck last week so I've had to drive him to the doctor's and stuff. Another new chapter should be out sometime this weekend hopefully. I have to spend some time with my family tomorrow and I have a grad party to go to on Sunday, but maybe Sunday night or Monday then. Enjoy!

Mmm...to those who have a problem with Dasey, here's an idea: Don't read stories that have Dasey in them? Especially if the summary states that the story is Dasey? It's not incest or wrong since they're not blood related, especially since they were 15 and already basically grown up when their parents met. I mean, have you never seen Cruel Intentions? Okay, so maybe that's a bad example, but still...

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Derek's POV...still 

A steady beeping woke me up from what must have been a very light sleep. The events of the previous day came rushing back to me. I hoped that maybe if I didn't open my eyes, it would all just be some strange and frightening dream.

I took a deep breath and opened my eyes anyway. Yeah, it definitely wasn't a dream. I was sitting in Casey's ICU room and the steady beeping that had woken me up was coming from one of the machines that was hooked up to her.

I lifted my head up from where it had been resting near her shoulder. I noticed that my hand was tightly clasped on top of her's and I lifted it off as quickly as I could, as if I her flesh were made of fire and I would be burned if I even lightly touched her. I shoved that hand into my lap where my other hand had already been resting.

I honestly didn't know why I did that. It wasn't like she knew what was going on anyway. A moving figure broke my train of thought as I noticed a nurse walk in and write some things down on Casey's chart. "It's nice to see that such a young girl had some company overnight." She smiled at me, "Although, we're not really supposed to let boyfriends in here. Only family is really allowed, but I'll keep it secret if you will." I could have sworn she winked at me after that.

"Um..." I struggled to find words in that moment of misunderstanding. "Actually, she's not my girlfriend. I'm her stepbrother."

"Oh." That was all she said at first. I wondered if she believed me or if she just thought I was fabricating a story to tell everyone else who came in and questioned my being there. "Well then, I'm sorry young man. I'm not usually wrong about these things." With that she left and was on to the next room.

I sat staring opened mouthed at the doorway. That really left me in shock. Someone had actually thought that Casey and I could actually be dating? I mean, of course I thought she was attractive, what guy in his right mind wouldn't? Of course I never let her know that, after all, being a stepbrother brought along certain requirements. In that case it was 'make fun of your step sibling on as many occasions as possible'.

I honestly didn't hate Casey though, despite what everyone thought. Sure I argued with her a lot, but again most of that went along with the step brotherly obligations. It was also fun to get a rise out of her. She actually argued back with me and it was kind of fun. She didn't just back out of my way when I was angry like Edwin did. Marti stood up to me sometimes when she was six, but that's just because she didn't know any better.

Actually, I didn't know what I felt for Casey. I looked at her lying on that bed and was overcome with an eerie sort of feeling. It was very similar to when I first walked in and saw her lying there. I don't know what was getting to me about the whole situation. I didn't know if it was just that she almost didn't seem real since she laid there so still or if it was something else. What made me care so much about her anyway? Why did I let Nora tell me to stay in the hospital overnight with Casey when I could have just denied her requests and made her stay? Maybe it was because I knew that Lizzie would need her at home incase she needed someone to talk to.

Then again, since when did I really care what Lizzie thought. She was just another sibling that I wouldn't have it Dad hadn't married Nora. Then again, I knew that if it was Lizzie who had been in the hospital instead, I would have been concerned for her as well. Although, I wasn't sure if that meant that I would be in the room like I was now, or if I would have been out in the waiting room like Dad, Marti, and Edwin had been. I'm almost positive that Casey or Nora would have stayed with her instead. I would have cared though. She was my step-sister and I loved her as such even if I didn't show it. It would be the same if Marti or Edwin were there.

I stared at Casey's face, trying to organize my thoughts. So was that it then? Did I love Casey too? I wasn't so quick as to answer myself, because I was scared of what that answer would be. Sure, I could say I loved her like I did Lizzie, Edwin, and Marti, but it sure didn't feel like the same sort of love. It was almost like I felt some sort of connection, even beneath all of our arguing and supposed hatred for each other. Was I in love with her?

I began to panic at that point. I mean, who in their right mind wouldn't? I had never been in love with a girl, that was for sure. I dated too many girls for there to ever be any sort of love and desire to commit to one person. So why shouldn't I panic? Especially when I thought that I felt that strange emotion towards my stepsister. I mean, wasn't that like, incest or something?

I felt relief wash over my body as I saw Nora walk in. She smiled at me, like a silent thanks for staying at the hospital. "George is out in the waiting room if you want to go home. He drove separately. I'll probably be here for a while."

I nodded, happy to get out of there, especially after all the thoughts that had flooded my mind. I made my way towards the door. "Derek," I paused and turned to Nora at the sound of my name, "She'd be glad you stayed you know. I don't think she really hates you." I nodded abruptly and made my way out of there as fast as I could.

The next few weeks flew by in a sort of blur. People at school tried not to mention Casey after their first few days of concern. I couldn't really concentrate on my schoolwork, but really, what else was new? I guess it was my lack of concentration playing hockey that really got people to come to the conclusion that I actually cared, despite apparent hate, whether or not Casey got better.

It was really only Nora and Lizzie who visited Casey. Edwin and Marti never did, and of course Dad was always 'too busy' to go. Sometimes if he was working on a case at home and didn't need the car I'd say that I was going to a friend's house or to practice hockey, and when I was sure that Nora and Lizzie were gone from the hospital, I'd go up to visit Casey.

On the day that marked two weeks since the accident, I paced Casey's room. Everyone was busy at home, but I still went to visit her. It wasn't even habit anymore, but it was a necessity. I couldn't get through my day if I didn't go to the hospital. I had tried, unsuccessfully of course. It really worried me that Casey was that important to me. Especially if my thoughts from that first night at the hospital were true. I tried to push those ideas aside as I usually did during visits, but this time I couldn't. I grabbed Casey's right hand and looked straight into her eyes, or well, I would have had she been conscious.

"Casey, you have to get better, do you hear me? If you die our family is going to fall apart. Actually, I'm going to fall apart. With you here and not knowing if you're going to get better I'm not doing well in school, and more surprisingly I'm not doing well at Hockey either. I think I love you Case. I know it's ridiculous, I've never loved a girl in my entire life, but I think I love you. I know it's probably incest and wrong, but maybe I'll get over it if you wake up. Case, I just don't want you to die knowing that the last thing I was thinking before I got that phone call that you were here was that I was angry at you. I was angry at you for having the car so I couldn't go on my date. And you know what? I haven't gone on a date since then either. It's all because of this stupid emotion that I'm not even sure I feel towards you. Just please, wake up so that we can get on with our lives."

I winced, knowing that the last part didn't come out as I meant it, but it wasn't like it mattered. She couldn't hear me anyway. That's why I was so scared when I felt pressure on my hand. Casey was actually squeezing my hand. I half yelped and let go of her hand, stepping away against the wall. Her eyes began to flutter open.

I panicked. I didn't know if she had heard any of that awful speech I had just given, and honestly, I didn't want to find out right then. I bolted out of that room as fast as I could that night. My heart was still pounding when I got home. I was glad that nobody was awake at that point because I really didn't feel like I could effectively lie and say that 'hockey practice' had gone fine that night.

I went up to my room and shut the door before lying on my bed staring up at the ceiling. Oh what had I done?

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AN: Sorry if that seemed rambly or anything. I really got into writing that chapter and stuff started flowing out, so I'm not 100 sure all of that made sense. Critique/Praise/Random reviews are welcome as always. 


	5. I'll go with you

AN: Yay, I got this out quicker than I expected to. Lucky for you guys, I decided to update before I head off to my friend's graduation party. Well, enjoy.

Oh, and a big "THANK YOU!" to all my readers and especially my reviewers. It really makes my day when somebody reviews my story. It's up there with the other majorly exciting thing in college students' lives: actually getting real mail.

A special thanks to BigThaddyDaddy to leaving my longest review yet. Thanks!

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Derek's POV 

I woke up in the morning with the weirdest feeling ever. In fact, I couldn't even really place what it was. My speech to Casey while she was in her coma came flooding back to me, as did remembering that she had shown signs of waking up from it directly afterwards. Well, that certainly gave a little bit of reason to why I felt so badly. Maybe I was having an anxiety attack or something.

There was always the off chance that it had been a dream, but I wanted to relate things to dreams way too often lately. I sighed and finally got out of bed. Even if Casey had woken up last night, that didn't mean that she had heard a word that I had said. Actually, if worse came to worse I could always just deny that I had said anything like that and just tell her that she was hallucinating or having some weird comatose dream or something.

I made my way downstairs to have some cereal. I expected that the rest of the family might be up and eating breakfast, but it didn't occur to me that everyone would be rushing around like there was some emergency house evacuation going on.

Dad and Nora were rushing the kids out to the car. When Nora saw me, she smiled. "The hospital called. Casey came out of the coma last night. You can come with us to the hospital if you want."

I really didn't want to go, or at least I didn't if Casey had heard what I said to her, but I knew I had to. Dad and Nora would know something was wrong if I didn't go with them. So instead, I just nodded and grabbed a box of cereal to eat in the car. I tried to convince myself that I did that because I had no idea how long we were going to be at the hospital that day and I didn't want to starve to death. Of course, I knew that the real reason was that eating calmed my nerves sometimes.

On the way to the hospital I tried my best not to wish the car to get a flat tire. I felt a little guilty when I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Lizzie staring out the window. I knew she wanted to see Casey really badly just to know for sure that she was alright.

The car ride to the hospital was all too short. I followed behind everyone as we entered the hospital. A short stop at the information desk told us that Casey had been moved from the ICU. She was in a regular room on the second floor now. Room 218.

I felt somewhat relieved to find out that Casey was in a regular room. That meant that there could be unlimited visitors and so she probably wouldn't be able to talk to me alone for a long time. That meant she couldn't confront me about what she had heard, if she had even heard it.

I pushed those thoughts out of my mind as we neared her room. Needless to say, Casey was quite happy to see everyone. Marti was bouncing up and down next to the bed telling her of the latest stories she had missed by not being home. Edwin and Lizzie stood silently behind Marti, just happy to see that Casey was okay. Actually, I think it was the first time I had seen Lizzie smile since before Casey's accident.

Dad and Nora stood next to the opposite side of the bed. Dad tried to get Marti to be quiet, saying that Casey had been through a lot and needed to rest. Nora on the other hand told him to just let her be, that Casey probably didn't mind.

I on the other hand, stood as far away from the bed as possible. It kind of reminded me of the first time I had seen Casey in the hospital with other people around. I tried to stare at anything besides Casey. I wanted to avoid eye contact at all costs.

When Marti had finished her story she bounced over to Dad and pulled on his arm, wanting to leave. I noticed that Edwin seemed glad at the prospect of leaving. Sure he was happy to see that Casey was doing better, and he was probably even happier that Lizzie was cheerful again, but that didn't change the fact that he hated hospitals.

Dad motioned for me to come with them so that Lizzie and Nora could have some family bonding time with Casey. I tried desperately to avoid looking at her as I left the room, but she caught my gaze right as I reached the door. Her eyes were unreadable. I quickly broke eye contact and sought to catch up with my Dad, Edwin, and Marti.

Since Casey was out of ICU, there wasn't a waiting room where we could stay while Nora and Lizzie visited with Casey. We ended up going down to the hospital cafeteria, which was set up more like a café really.

It was another half an hour before Nora and Lizzie came downstairs to where we were waiting. "Derek," Nora had a strange look on her face, one of confusion, "Casey wants you to visit with her."

I felt my insides turn cold and I tried not to panic. Maybe she just wanted to yell at me because she somehow thought that the car accident was my fault. Well, I could hope that anyway.

It felt like everyone was staring at me, but I knew I was being paranoid, or I hoped so anyway. "We'll be back in an hour to pick you up Derek."

I went back up to the room and took a few deep breaths before walking in. I didn't want Casey to suspect anything if she really hadn't heard a word that I had said.

"Hey Casey," I said keeping my voice as calm and steady as possible, "are you feeling alright?" I could have kicked myself. Of course she wasn't doing alright, she was lying in a hospital bed and for two weeks before this she had been in a coma.

She shrugged. "The doctors say I'll be fine. They said there's been no permanent damage due to head injury. My wrist was sprained, but it healed. These cuts," she gestured to the tiny cuts that were still all over her body, "will eventually fade away. Now they just want to keep me here for about another week or so. They want to make sure that I can walk alright since I've been lying in a bed for half a month. They might have to put me through some physical therapy so that my muscles will start working again."

I smiled faintly. "Hey. At least you'll be home in time for prom then. I mean, it's only been the main thing you've been talking about for, oh I don't know, all of senior year?"

That seemed to brighten her up a bit. "Yeah, senior prom. It's supposed to be the best night of all of high school." After a moment she visibly paled and I before I could get a nurse to see if something was wrong medically, she spoke again. "Derek, there's no way I can go to prom now. By the time I get out of here I'm going to have a week left. I can't possibly get everything I need done by then."

"What do you mean? You bought your dress the day of the accident didn't you?" What else could possibly be important for prom?

Casey looked on the verge of tears. "I don't have a date."

Oh, well, I guess that was important too. Come to think of it, in everything that had been happening I didn't have a date either. True I was a last minute kind of guy when it came to this type of stuff, especially since I never really wanted any type of commitment with a girl. Now, I wasn't even sure I wanted to go with anyone.

"Casey, if what you need is a date, I'd be willing to go with you." The words came out of my mouth before I even noticed what I was saying. Sure, I had meant what I said, but I had no way of gauging what her reaction would be.

"Do you really mean that?" I nodded. "Derek, but what would people say? I mean, I'm your sister. Do you really want people talking about you like that at the dance? Or worse, what if they make fun of you because you're taking Klutzilla?"

"For one, we're step siblings." I said, correcting her. It kind of hurt that she left the step part out. It kind of took away any hope of her ever feeling the same way I felt towards her. Oh, who was I kidding? Anyone would know that it would never happen in a million years. Plus, I planned on never mentioning it to anyone ever again. "Second, who cares what everyone else thinks?"

She seemed to ponder this for a few minutes before sighing and agreeing. "Fine. I'll go with you."

We stayed in silence for a few minutes, neither of us looking at the other before she spoke up again, "By the way Derek, I heard what you said last night. Is it true?"

I tried not to panic. "What do you mean? This is the first time I've been here when you were conscious."

She shook her head. "I know I heard you talking last night, right before I woke up. And even though I was in a coma, I felt like people were with me, almost as if I were dreaming they were there. I know my Mom and Lizzie were here a lot, but you seemed to be here almost as often. Why?"

I was stuck. I could either tell her the truth and have to face whatever she would say after that, or I could lie and keep my dignity. Well, not that I really had much left. I had already screwed up in hockey, and that was most of what kept my reputation going at school.

"I was here because of what you heard me say. I had been thinking it in bits and pieces for the past two weeks, but it didn't really hit me until then. I know you hate me, but that doesn't matter okay? I'll just take you to prom so you have a date and then we can go back to arguing whenever you want." It hurt to say that, but if it was what she wanted and would make her happy, well, then it would have to be okay for me too.

"I never hated you. I disliked you a whole lot, especially when you argued or just did stupid things to make me mad. I don't know if I could ever like you as more than a stepbrother, or even more than a friend ever. Besides, I doubt that you even know what love is. I think you just said that because you thought I might die and maybe you thought that would redeem everything that's happened since our families moved in together."

Okay, that hurt. I almost didn't blame her for thinking that way, but I almost never expressed my feelings towards anyone, and especially not towards Casey. "Case, you have no idea just how wrong you are."

I turned and walked out, going to wait in the main lobby for my dad to pick me up. I ignored Casey calling my name as I walked away from her room. I just didn't want my feelings stomped on any more. I, Derek Venturi finally admitted my feelings for someone and I was shot down. I was never shot down; then again, I never really had any feelings to admit. I just dated girls, dumped them, and then dated again. It was the never ending cycle with me, but it was one that maybe, just maybe I was ready to break free from again.

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AN: Just a note about the coma thing. I know that being aware of things going on while someone is in a coma and having them feel those things in a dream-like state seems unrealistic, but it happened to my mom. She was in a diabetic coma when I was in 6th grade and when she came out of it she said she felt like she was on a cruise ship and she said my dad and I were there, but we were off eating or I was at dance class. The funny part of that is that my aunt always told her (while she was in the coma)to just pretend she was on a cruise because the hospital staff had to keep tilting the bed, and I really always was at dance class, so, yeah. 

I'll update more soon...ish


	6. Home Sweet Home

An: Sorry this is so relatively short and took so long to update. Also, please don't be surprised if there are more seemingly random updates to the story later today/tonight (July 7, 2006). I got my laptop back and the computer I was working on didn't have microsoft word. I used an internet spellchecker, but I just went through the documents on this computer and some spelling/grammar mistakes are horrendous. So, I'm going to fix those for you guys and any incoming readers. Well, enjoy!

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Casey's POV (Finally!)

I felt kind of bad that day that last day that Derek came to visit me in the hospital. It was the day after I woke up. The day before he had confessed that he thought he was in love with me. I couldn't believe him, I mean, who honestly could? Derek had certainly never been in love before and what was going to make him change just like that? He just said that because he thought I was going to die and felt guilty somehow, that's all.

I felt smothered by my family that week that I had woken up. Marti kept telling me her stories from her week and Mom and Lizzie were just happy that I was okay. George and Edwin on the other hand weren't too bad, but maybe that was because I was only step family to them.

That last week in the hospital went by so slowly. I felt like I was either sleeping or at physical therapy every day. I hadn't used my legs for the past two weeks, so it felt kind of funny walking around. Sometimes my muscles didn't want to cooperate, but with a little guided practice I was walking around just fine by the end of the week.

I felt so relieved when the doctor came into the hospital room and told me I could go home. I was worried about going back to school though. I had missed almost a month's worth of work. I knew I could make it up by the end of the year, but still it was going to be a lot of work. Well, at least it would be a lot more than usual.

Mom was the only one who came to pick me up from the hospital on the Friday afternoon that I got to go home. George was probably working on a case and the younger kids were still in school. Derek was probably home, but he had been avoiding me like I had some deadly contagious disease for the past week. Then again, I supposed that I couldn't really blame him. I had basically thrown his feelings back in his face after stomping all over them.

When we got back to the house I silently made my way up the stairs to my room. I sat on my bed and hugged my knees up to my chest. It was good to be in familiar surroundings again. It was just going to be awkward being in such close living spaces with Derek again.

My thoughts drifted back to our last conversation. I felt kind of guilty and hypocritical. I'd never told anyone, but I had a sort of school-girl crush on Derek ever since I had met him. I had always pushed any feelings aside though. I mean, we were related now and that was just wrong. Then I really got to know Derek and how he had basically no morals when it came to dating girls and he definitely wasn't a long term relationship kind of guy. That's when I pushed the idea completely out of my head and started focusing on another little crush that I had. Sam.

Sure, Sam was a nice guy, but after dating for a while we realized that any feelings we had towards each other was just Friendship. It still kind of hurt when he started dating Emily directly afterwards though.

Ok, so maybe I'm not a total hypocrite. Nowhere in me having my stupid little crush on Derek did I admit that I loved him. I'm not even sure that I know what love is actually. I kind of always figured that I just had a cushy on Derek because he was admittedly good looking, never because of his personality.

So then not only did I not believe that Derek loved me because of his reputation, but it also scared me. I was scared because of how I felt towards him. Those same feelings that had made me so eager to accept him taking me to the Prom. In fact, I still couldn't believe that he wasn't going with some blonde whose chest size was bigger than her IQ.

Prom was next weekend. I inwardly groaned. That probably meant that I had to go apologize to Derek. We had to be on good terms by then. Inwardly I hoped that maybe, just maybe he hadn't been lying that day in the hospital. Maybe he hadn't just been scared that I wasn't going to wake up.

It's not like we could ever date though. Sure, even if we didn't care what other people said, what would we do about our family? I'm not quite sure George and Mom would be too happy with the situation. Sure they want us to get along, but I don't think they want us to get along that well.

I tried to plan out in my head what I was going to say to apologize to Derek. That was a new one, me actually apologizing for once. I knew I had to though, especially if anything actually happened. I pushed those thoughts out of my head. I decided that if anything happened, it would happen on its own and I didn't want to think about it and get my hopes up.

I took a deep breath and stepped out into the hallway. Now I could only hope that Derek would even listen to me.

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AN: Another seemingly spastic chapter. Oh wait, maybe that's just me. Heh. Oh well. See the little review button on the bottom left below this? Yes? Click it! Reviews are happiness.  



	7. Taking chances

AN: Eek. Sorry it's taken me so incredibly long to update this story. My laptop died again and CompUSA is really slow at fixing things. But alas here we are with the next chapter. There is at least one more chapter until the end if not more, I'm just not sure on where I plan on ending it. I do have ideas for a sequel too, but well, I'll have more details on that when I get to the last chapter. Enjoy!

** Anna **- I understand what you mean. I'm blonde as well and my chest size is not large than my IQ either. It's just Casey's way of describing what she thinks all the girls that Derek dates are like.

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Derek's POV 

There was a soft knocking at my bedroom door that distracted me from my internet surfing. I opened the door, it was Casey. I turned around without even showing that I had acknowledged her presence. "Derek..." she started, but I just went and lay down on my bed, staring at the ceiling as if it were the most interesting thing in the world.

Casey grabbed the chair from my desk and pulled it over next to the bed and then sat down in it facing me. "Derek, I just came in to say I'm sorry. I was rude earlier and I said some things that were, well, a little harsh.

I tore my gaze from the ceiling and focused on Casey. I searched her eyes, but all I could find was sincerity. "I'm telling you the truth Derek. I really am sorry."

Casey looked like she wanted to run away from that moment. I knew it took a lot for Casey to apologize when it was to me. "I know." Maybe that meant that she finally believed what I had said to her. "I was telling the truth too you know."

She inhaled sharply, but almost as if she had expected that statement to come up. She looked away from me. "I know."

It felt like my heart was going to leap out of my chest. So maybe there was a chance then.

"So Case, why'd you say all that earlier then?"

She stood up and began to pace the room. "I was scared ok?" Scared? What on Earth was she talking about? "I was scared because I always had feelings for you, ever since my family moved in with yours. For the longest time I passed it off as hatred. When you told me how you were feeling about me though, that's when realization hit. I was really just trying to suppress attraction towards you. It can't happen you know. We're related. It's wrong."

"Casey. We're not related by blood. It can't be wrong."

"But what would Mom and George say? They already only think you're taking me to the prom because you felt bad for me."

"Who cares what they say? We'll be 18 soon. Plus, Lizzie and Edwin probably wouldn't care anyway. Marti will learn to accept it someday. So what do we have to lose?"

She stopped dead from her pacing and started straight at me. "How about all that you hold dear. Your friends, your girl playthings, your respect on the hockey team? Your reputation in general?"

"Okay, so you have a point." I saw her face fall into a look of disappointment. She looked like she was going to get up and leave to go cry in her room. "Casey, I promise you it doesn't matter. I just want to be with you. Who cares if it ends up being a mistake later on? Well, not that it will be a mistake, but we can't go against something we both feel. It's not our fault our parents got married."

"But Derek..." she began, but I didn't want to hear anymore doubts. I did what I had been waiting to do ever since I had first started telling her my feelings towards her. I quickly closed the distance between us and pressed my mouth up against hers. She stiffened for a moment when she realized what was happening, but I didn't back off. After a few seconds she began to kiss me back and her hands slowly wrapped around my shoulders. I finally paused and backed away a few inches.

"So, do you still have any doubts?" To my dismay, she nodded.

"Yes, but it's not going to matter." I smiled. "Just...how are we going to tell my mom and your dad?"

"Well, I hadn't really thought about that. We could do it after prom. Or even better, after graduation. How about when we both go off to college. Actually, how about we just wait until our wedding day."

Saying those words brought chills to me. I mean, Casey and I didn't really have any sort of relationship yet other than being willing to try it out since we both cared about each other, but marriage? Yeah, it was probably a mistake mentioning that. Casey didn't seem to notice though.

"We should tell them now. They should know. I don't want to be sneaking around for whoever knows how long. Plus I think they should know in case things were to ever..." she paused and blushed, "you know, get out of hand."

I couldn't believe that Casey would actually think of anything like that happening, well, okay so maybe I could. I mean, she was going to be dating me now of all people. I planned on being different than my previous escapades though.

She stood up and pulled on my wrist, trying to get me to get up and go over to the door. I stared at her. "You meant literally right now?"

She rolled her eyes. "Yes literally. Come on. The sooner we get this done the sooner it will be over with and we won't have to hide our relationship."

I inwardly groaned, but followed her lead down the stairs. Dad and Nora were sitting at the kitchen table sipping coffee and reading the local newspaper.

"Mom, George," I heard Casey saying, "We wanted to tell you something."

They looked up at us in surprise and looking as if they were expecting us to tell them that in one of our fights we had killed someone or something like that.

"Well, for one thing it's nothing bad, so don't think that. In fact, I think it might be quite good, well, in my opinion it is. I think in Derek's it might be too." Great. Casey was starting to ramble. I nudged her and she quieted, looking down at the floor.

"Alright, so, what Casey is trying to say...well," I lowered my voice to a mumble, "we're dating."

"What!" My father raised his voice considerably louder than I had ever heard him be, even when yelling. "Please, tell me I misheard you and you and your sister are NOT involved romantically."

Casey winced. "Actually George, I'm technically his stepsister, which means we're not really related, and yes we're dating."

Dad looked angry and confused, unsure of what to say and Nora just sighed. "Well, I was afraid of this happening. Go on upstairs for a little bit. I'll talk to George and we'll be up in a little bit to talk to you guys."

We turned to head out of the kitchen. That was considerably less painful and awkward than I had expected it to be. Casey and I both headed back to my room and sat on the edge of the bed. All I could do was sit and stare at the closed door, waiting for it to open.

"So...what sort of decision do you think they're going to come to?" Casey asked.

"Well, your mom seemed fairly calm about it, almost expecting it. I'm not too sure on my dad though. Well, not as if he ever goes against anything she says. He's too scared." I wasn't too sure of myself this time though. This was a lot different than most of the opinions my dad gave up on. Who knows what would happen this time.

We just continued to sit on the edge of that bed, in silence. I doubted there would be any yelling about the subject, especially with the other kids home. All we could do now was wait.

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AN: Erg. I'll try to get the next chapter out quick. I promise. I want to finish this story before I go back to college on the 23rd. Oh, and reviews are love. 


	8. The Perfect Night

AN: Eep. Sorry for not updating in so long. I really did plan on updating throughout the semester, but my classes, activities, and work added up to a very hectic schedule.

So, for all of you who have been patient, here it is, the last chapter of Hope for Tomorrow. Enjoy!

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Casey's POV 

I sat nervously on the edge of Derek's bed, awaiting the verdict from our parents about the whole dating situation. I was so nervous that I began feeling physically sick. That's when I felt Derek's arm wrap around my shoulder in a comforting gesture, or maybe it was to comfort himself, but it worked both ways. I rested my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes. We had already told my mom and George, and there was no backing out now. Hopefully the worst was over; we couldn't control what was going to happen now.

It felt like we were sitting there in silence for eternity, and honestly I don't know how long it was. Suddenly the door to Derek's room slowly opened as George and my mom walked in. I lifted my head off of Derek's shoulder and tried to read their expressions, but it was impossible. "Derek, Casey" George began, "Nora and I really don't like the idea of you two dating, but we realize at the same time we can't control your actions for very much longer. All we ask is to keep any forms of affection to a minimum in the house, especially in front of the other kids. Other than that, you have our permission to date."

On that, my mom and him left the room, not even bothering to shut the door on their way out. Derek and I looked at each other in shock and mere seconds later he reacted out of happiness and covered my lips with his own. I melted into the kiss, and after our little moment of celebration, we both pulled back. "So, that was real, right?" I asked.

Derek nodded. "Well, it's not like they could have kept us from dating anyway. We just would've had to act normal in the house. But we won't have to hide anything now." He smiled, and it really didn't look like the Derek I knew. For once it wasn't a sarcastic smirk, but a genuine smile. I could get used to this.

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Prom Day

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I stood in front of the full length mirror in my room and took a deep breath while taking in my reflection. My hair was pulled back into a low ponytail with long curls coming out of it. My dress and makeup were perfect, and you honestly couldn't tell I had been in an accident, except for possibly if you really knew anything to look for.

I glanced over at the clock on my desk. It read 7:00. I took one last look in the mirror before exiting my room. Derek would be waiting downstairs, and I honestly had no idea what he was going to think. I knew the girls he normally dated, and I knew none of that mattered now, but it still didn't keep me from worrying.

I slowly descended the staircase into our living room where Derek was waiting with the rest of the family. He stood in his tuxedo glancing anxiously between the staircase and the clock. Derek who almost never cared about being punctual for anything was actually paying attention to the time. I had to stifle a laugh for a second. Then Derek saw me on the staircase and his eyes didn't move to the clock or anywhere else in the room. I continued down the staircase until I was next to him. He smiled at me and whispered in my ear, "You're beautiful." He kissed me once on the cheek before my mom started taking the obligatory prom pictures.

I had pinned the boutonniere onto Derek's jacket and he slipped the corsage onto my wrist. Then, just when I thought I would go blind from flashbulbs, Derek and I managed to escape from the family and the house and were finally on our way to our prom. I didn't care anymore what the kids at school thought, and neither did Derek apparently. He danced with me all night, and we certainly acted more like a couple than your average stepsiblings. There were stolen kisses all night, and neither one of us danced with another person the entire time.

There was a pause before the last slow song of the night came on. It was time to announce the prom king and queen. I had completely forgotten about this part of the night. "And now to announce your prom king of the evening, Derek Venturi!" The applause was almost deafening and my heart sank a little bit as Derek went up to get the crown put on his head and await the announcing of the prom queen. He gave me an apologetic look, and I felt a bit of jealousy rise within me at the thought of him having to dance with whatever girl got the honor of prom queen.

"And your prom queen of this year is, Casey MacDonald!" It felt in that moment as if my heart had stopped. I certainly hadn't been expecting that to happen. The applause continued and Emily nudged me forward. I felt a small tiara be placed on my head, and then a space in the center of the dance floor cleared out where Derek and I were to dance.

The music began as Derek wrapped his arms around my waist and my arms found their way to be wrapped around his neck. We began swaying to the music and he leaned down to my ear, "Have you had fun tonight Casey?" he asked.

"Yes," I whispered and laid my head on his chest, "This night is absolutely perfect."

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AN: It's the end! See? I promised. Thanks for everyone who's stuck around since I started writing this in the summer. 

I do still have an idea for the sequel, but I'm not sure that I'm going to be able to do it right now. The day after Christmas I'm leaving for St. Louis and won't have a computer while I'm there. So, hopefully you're all satisfied with this ending for now. And if I ever make a sequel, I hope you're all there to read it.

By the way, reviews love.


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